Lost In The Stars
by Faye-The-BookWolf
Summary: Blink AU - The Doctor and Martha explore an abandoned house after The Doctor picks up strong residual time energy. With a single touch of an angel, they awake to find themselves in...London 2008? This was no time shift. The angels have pushed The Doctor through dimensions, precisely eight months after Rose Tyler said goodbye to him at Bad Wolf Bay. 10/Rose and Martha/Mickey
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! This is my first Who!Fic, so I'd be glad for any tips and hints! So this is an AU of the episode Blink! I think I'm going to have fun writing this and I hope you all enjoy reading it! Well, without further ado - Let's begin!**

**Guys, I don't know what happened to the last story of this...Fanfiction deleted it for some reason and didn't tell me why, so I had to reupload it. I'm so sorry. **

* * *

'_-Seven-thirty AM and this is a song for those getting ready for – or on their way to work! Enjoy!'_

'_Hey there De-'_

The sound was cut off abruptly as a hand escaped thick, warm duvet covers, and hit the alarm clock at the top, before the occupant sat up, squinting slightly in the harsh light of the early morning. Mumbling something under her breath, the young woman shoved the covers off of her body, and stood before she stretched, stifling a yawn.

Picking up a marker from her bedside table, the woman, (more commonly known as Rose Tyler) moved over to a calendar and marked off another day. The corner of her lips curved up into a half smile, and her hand reached up to trace the red 'x' that marked the date.

"Another day without you," was all Rose said, swallowing a lump that formed in her throat. Her separation from The Doctor still stung even after being stuck in Pete's world for a year and a month. Her goodbye to the Doctor was at least eight months ago, and she felt empty inside. True to her word, she had gotten a high ranking job at Torchwood due to her experience and Pete's influence, but just defending the world, working the way she did – it was empty. She missed the stars, she missed the running, but mostly, she missed The Doctor. Her Doctor.

Shaking her head, Rose dropped the marker and pushed back the thoughts before she moved to her closet, beginning to get ready for the day. It was easy to fake a smile, to joke and laugh, but it never reached her eyes. She wouldn't really be happy until she found a way to get back to her world, a way back to The Doctor. She was content, to put it nicely. She had a nice flat that she had decorated elaborately to look like the TARDIS, and her room in the TARDIS. It made it feel like home. She could have stayed with Jackie and Pete in their mansion, but she wanted the space – needed the space. Sometimes, she felt so like home that Rose would at times, talk to the walls of the living area and expect to hear a reassuring hum in return. But she never did.

Her little brother, Tony, was two months old now, and she adored him completely. He was most probably the only one who could get her smile to light up in her eyes. As he grew, Rose would tell him all about the man who had taken his big sister across the stars, and shown her the beauty of the universe. She just wondered if it would still hurt when she told it then, like it did now.

Moving into her kitchen, Rose tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and picked up the first piece of fruit her hand touched, a banana. Turning the fruit over in her hand, Rose let a small breath escape her as a tiny smile crossed her face, a small spark in her eyes.

"_Look at what the cat dragged in. The Oncoming Storm!" Rose snapped waspishly, glaring in front of her at The Doctor. Despite her annoyance, she couldn't help but be relieved – she was literally seconds away from being cut up before he made his entrance. He did however; look ridiculous with that tie around his head and th- was he DRUNK? If this were a completely different situation, Rose would have laughed. _

"_Oh, you sound just like your mother," The Doctor drawled, sitting back with look at her, that same stupid smile on his lips, and it was that smile that caused Rose's annoyance to return. He was off getting drunk when she and Mickey were about to become a part of the ship? Brilliant. _

"_What have you been doing, Where have you been?!" she demanded, struggling slightly in her bonds. When she got her hands on him…_

"_Well, among other things, I THINK," The Doctor began thoughtfully, "I may have invented the banana daiquiri a couple of centuries early." _

_Rose let out a huff of exasperation and let her head fall back against the metal bed as The Doctor continued. _

"_Do you know they've never even seen a banana before?" he was saying, complete disbelief in his tone as he approached her, and he leaned in, and against her wishes, Rose felt her heartbeat quicken slightly. "Always take a banana to a party, Rose." He said in a matter-of-fact voice. "Bananas are good." _

Rose dropped the banana like it had stung her, and before she could lose herself in further memories of The Doctor, she turned, grabbed her jacket and fled her apartment, fighting back the familiar pangs of emptiness and loneliness she always felt after remembering. She had no time to reminisce; she had a job to do.

* * *

"Good morning Director Tyler," Rose's PA, a young woman named Adeola Jones said as soon as the blonde walked through the double doors of Torchwood Tower. Rose had no desire for a PA, preferred to do things her own way and on her own, but after meeting the girl, she realised who she was. She'd died in the Battle of Canary Wharf in her old universe. After realising that, Rose couldn't turn her away. To be frank, she was good at her job, and Rose liked her a lot.

"Mornin' Adeola." Rose greeted, accepting the coffee the darker woman offered, not slowing down her pace. "What's new? And I told ya, just call me Rose." She managed a small smile, and Adeola returned it, looking down at her clipboard.

"Work on the dimension canon is up to fifty-six percent as of last night, and Mr. Simmonds says it should be ready for testing at around sixty-five percent. He still thinks you should wait until one-hundred percent, however." She informed Rose who managed a brief smirk.

"Since when did Jake start gettin' all careful?" she asked, more to herself, but waved a hand as she sipped at her coffee as a sign for Adeola to continue.

"There's been no sign from the Descrinth since last week, and Mr Smith said he wants to talk to you about some kind of energy signature the computers picked up." Adeola finished up, and Rose furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

"What kinda energy?" she inquired, shrugging off her jacket and dropping it down onto her chair once she had entered her office.

"He said it's almost like…time energy," Adeola explained, the corner of her lips turning downwards in confusion. "Something that shouldn't be there."

Rose froze slightly, her breath catching. It couldn't be – she couldn't even bring herself to hope. She couldn't face the crushing disappointment that would ultimately follow. Instead she simply nodded her head and put down her coffee cup.

"Alright, thanks Adeola," she said quietly. "I'll go talk to Mickey in a minute then – the dimension canon can wait for a bit."

Adeola nodded, recognizing the subtle dismissal and left the room, beginning to talk over the communicator plugged into her ear. Rose watched her go quietly before she gripped onto the corner of her desk, ducking her head slightly. Why was everything reminding her of The Doctor today? Sucking in a deep breath, Rose stood and walked out of her office, heading for the computer labs.

As much as Rose loathed Torchwood, she had to admit, she felt a lot better knowing that it was under Pete's, and by extension, her, control. It meant that she could at least try to do things the way The Doctor would have done, instead of being all trigger happy. They still made guns, much to Rose's obvious displeasure, but Jake had pointed out that if it came down to it, would she rather them be defenceless against creatures like Cybermen again? It irritated her, but she had to admit that being prepared was better than being completely defenceless. She had made it very clear that the weapons Torchwood were developing were strictly to be used as a last defence, because she wasn't going to let this Torchwood turn into Yvonne's torchwood. She knew first-hand how easy it was for a human to just fire at something they didn't recognize, and she wanted to avoid unnecessary deaths as much as possible. Rose managed a humourless smile as she pushed open the doors. She really sounded like The Doctor.

"Rose!" Mickey declared, spinning around to look at her. Rose nodded in greeting, walking over and leaning on the back of his chair, looking at the computer readings.

"Time energy?" She inquired, wrinkling her nose at all the complicated data on the screen. She couldn't make heads or tails of it.

Mickey seemed to be able to read her thoughts, because he shook his head, sounding apologetic when he spoke.

"Nothin' like the TARDIS residue." He explained warily, and despite Rose's self-assurance that she wouldn't allow herself to hope, it felt like a blow to the gut. Pushing past it, she simply stared firmly at the screen and waited for him to carry on. "It's more like, a shift – like it shouldn't be there. The sensors picked up on it and they're goin' NUTS."

"It's that strong?" Rose asked, surprise leaking through the pain. She wasn't a computer expert, but she knew the scanners were the best technology Earth could offer.

"Yep, and that means whatever caused it is really powerful," Mickey nodded, quickly typing at the keyboard and bringing up a series of diagrams and charts.

"And possibly dangerous," Rose agreed, leaning over him to key in a simple code which transmitted the co-ordinates to her state of the art Torchwood wristwatch.

"Rose, you can't – you don't know how dangerous this thing is!" Mickey argued, despite knowing it was no use trying to talk her out of it.

"Relax, Mick." Rose said dismissively, pressing a button on her watch and picking up a scanner. "Worst comes to worst, I'll have to do a lot of runnin', and to be honest, I don't think I'd mind." she looked up, and Mickey saw a familiar spark in her eyes. It was like a part of her had died after saying goodbye to The Doctor. There'd been no life in her eyes. Seeing it there now rendered him speechless for a moment. Instead of speaking again, he just nodded his head at her, and despite the worry that washed over him, he couldn't help but feel proud of her. Rose was coping – and now, maybe she could finally start living again.

"Alright, just keep in touch with the communicator," Mickey ordered, throwing her an earpiece. Rose wrinkled her nose, slipping the hanger comfortably over her ear. It was more like a hands free device rather than the devices Lumick had come up with when he built up the Cyber Men, but Rose still didn't have to like it much.

"Kay," was all Rose said to that, switching it on. "Anythin' else I need to know?"

"Whatever caused the energy will lead a sort of trail out after it if it moves," Mickey explained. "Kinda like uh...a snail leaving a trail of slime after it, but after a while, it'll weaken and fade away, so you might be led to a dead end, but all we really need is a stronger reading of the energy – might be easier to find out what it is then. If you get a visual, sweet, it's Christmas, but if not – don't sweat it."

Rose nodded, slipping the scanner into the holster she had fastened around her pant leg before she looked up at him with a smile.

"Well then, I better hurry," she said lightly, and turned. "I'll see ya later, Mickey." She called out as she left, and Mickey heaved a slight sigh.

"Be careful," he said into the microphone that connected him to Rose through the earpiece, and he could almost see her roll her eyes.

"_Always am_," was the reply.

* * *

**Next up, The Doctor and Martha find a creepy, run down old house filled with angel statues. **


	2. Chapter 2

"What are we doing here again?" Martha Jones asked, looking up at The Doctor, who was holding a large and to be honest, ridiculous contraption in his arms, fiddling with a dial on it and frowning. They had just stopped off when The Doctor had picked up large amounts of residual time energy that shouldn't – that COULDN'T exist. They were supposed to be going to the Moons of Selroth, but The Doctor had insisted that this was a matter that couldn't wait.

"Need to figure out what's causing the energy – it's extremely strong –it's making my timey wimey detector go all over the place." The Doctor said, only half listening to what she was saying, more intent on talking to himself. "I mean, it doesn't make any sense, not really – I mean I've honestly never heard of something that can leave time energy on this scale – nothing except the TARDIS, and that type of energy is completely different. Controlled. This – This is completely different."

Martha wrinkled her nose and looked around the garden. It was untamed from lack of care, and littered with rubbish that had been carelessly tossed in by people passing through. That wasn't what bothered her though - the weird crying angel statues sent shivers up her spine. It reminded her of a graveyard.

"-gets stronger the closer we get to the house," The Doctor was saying, and Martha focused on him. The sooner they found out what it was, the sooner they could leave.

"So, into the house?" Martha offered, and The Doctor spared her a grin.

"Into the house!" he agreed, cheerful as ever.

Together, they walked into the run-down mansion, and The Doctor's 'timey wimey detector' was going somewhat haywire. He frowned at it, and in his usual method of hitting things until they worked, he smacked his hand against the side of it, hard.

"Come on –come on!" he urged it, before letting out a low moan, like a petulant child. "No, no, no!" he cried, looking very unhappy. "It's died out!"

"What does that mean?" Martha asked, attempting to peek over his shoulder.

"It means that the energy in here was too strong for it." The Doctor said, and Martha noticed a grave note in his tone. "I mean, granted, it wasn't finished and its main purpose ended up being able to just boil eggs, including the chickens within a large scale radius, but it should have lasted out whilst looking for residual energy. The fact that it didn't conveys that we are dealing with something very, very powerful, Martha Jones."

"Reassuring," Martha mumbled, turning around and jumping slightly. "Doctor – I know this sounds, really weird…but…has that statue always been there?"

"What?" The Doctor asked, distracted, and turned, freezing when he saw it. An angel statue, like the ones in the garden, stood close by to them, hands covering its face. Almost immediately, The Doctor gripped Martha's arm, and without taking his eyes off of the statue, he began to walk backwards towards the exit. "Don't blink Martha, do you understand? Do NOT blink!"

"What is it? Why can't I blink?" Martha asked quickly, keeping her eyes open wide.

"They only move if you're not looking at them, and you don't want them to move, so Martha, just keep those eyes wide o-"

* * *

Martha let out a noise of discontent and grabbed at her head, slumping down onto a wall that appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Her head was spinning, and she felt, to put it bluntly, terrible. She risked a glance up to see that The Doctor looked a little better than she did, but obviously was uncomfortable.

"What the heck was that?" she asked, rubbing her temples with a cringe.

"Basically, travelling through time without a capsule," The Doctor sighed. "Not the easiest way to travel, but the motion sickness feeling will wear off."

"How did we manage to do that then? What were those statues?" Martha inquired, head tilted to one side.

"Weeping Angels," The Doctor informed her. "I thought they were just a legend, to be honest. They're stuck in a sort of quantum lock, which means basically they have the ultimate defence mechanism – when they're looked at – they're stone. Now stone can't move, but you can't kill it, either. But look away – and that's when they uncover their faces. They're lightning fast. One touch is all it takes."

"To what? Make us travel through time? Why would they do that?" Martha asked.

"Residual time energy," The Doctor scowled, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I should have seen it. Weeping Angels are the only creatures in the universe that will 'kill you nicely'" he said with obvious distaste as Martha reached into a nearby bin to pick up a newspaper. "They send you back in time and basically let you live to death. You live out your whole life in another time, and they feed on the time energy left behind. They won't get much on us though, seeing as we're time travellers – but if they find the TARDIS, they'll stop at nothing til they break her open."

"So they send you back in time?" Martha asked for clarification, obviously disbelieving.

"Yep!" The Doctor popped the 'p' "So Martha Jones – when are we?"

"Just where we were," Martha replied, holding out the newspaper. "2008. Same day and everything."

"What?" The Doctor asked in disbelief, snatching the paper from it and scanning it. "But that's impossible! We can't be!"

Martha shrugged, leaning back slightly and smiling. "I guess not – But it's a relief right? Now we can just walk back to wherever we were and get the TARDIS."

The Doctor furrowed his eyebrows, for once completely baffled. But then he looked up, and all the breath left his lungs at once. There they were. Zeppelins above London.

"_It's beautiful!" _

The Doctor turned sharply, but no-one had spoken. It was just a memory. But if they were in 2008, then that meant she'd been here for maybe a year or so – and suddenly, several emotions hit him all at once. The crushing pain he felt at losing his Rose was the most apparent, her face at Bad Wolf Bay still haunted the little sleep he managed to get. The other emotion, was hope. If he was actually in Pete's world, then Rose was here, and he might stand a chance at getting her back.

"Rose," he murmured softly, under his breath, and though he almost didn't dare to hope, lightness bubbled up into his chest.

"What?" Martha asked, looking at him questioningly, and The Doctor blinked, having almost forgotten she was there.

"Uh – the sky." He said, pointing up. "Not exactly like your London, is it?"

Martha looked up, and her mouth fell open in shock, staring at the zeppelins. "…Not exactly." She finally managed, and The Doctor allowed a small smile to cross his face.

"No, we've crossed dimensions, rather than time." The Doctor surmised, jumping up off of the wall. "No idea why – terrible, really, universes could go boom at any minute. The angels definitely ARE supposed to send you back in time – they shouldn't be able to send us through dimensions unless there's a tear between the rifts and if that's the case, then that is very, very bad."

"So what do we do?" Martha asked, also standing up, eyebrows raised.

"Give me your mobile." He requested, and ignored her look of confusion as he took it from her. He pressed his sonic against it, waiting until it quickly ran through all of the network – no longer Cybus, at least – before it finally showed a face he had sorely missed.

Rose Tyler. Alive and well. That was all he needed to know.

"Come on," The Doctor said cheerfully, tossing Martha's phone back to her. "I know just where we're going to go. Luckily for us – I've been to this universe before, so I've got some friends who'll help us out. Hopefully they're still living in the same place – it would make things easier."

Martha just shook her head, knowing she'd never get a straight answer out of him, and followed. As long as they managed to get back to their own dimension, she'd trust in The Doctor, like she always did.

* * *

"So these mystery friends of yours live here?" Martha asked, looking at the huge mansion, obviously impressed. "Not bad."

"Old Pete does well for himself," The Doctor agreed with a grin, ringing the doorbell and bouncing up and down. The only thing that was running through his mind was her name. His Rose.

"Comin'!" A voice called out, and The Doctor perked slightly. Not a voice he'd thought he'd miss, and grinning, he spread his arms out when the door opened.

"Jackie!" he beamed, darting forward to sweep the older woman into a hug, only to receive a sharp blow on the cheek, sending him reeling for a moment, shock plastered on his face. "…OW!" He finally cried, gripping his cheek and staring at Jackie like a wounded puppy, who was staring at him with wide-eyes, a hint of anger in them. "What was that for?"

Immediately the anger vanished, and Jackie's mouth fell open in shock.

"You're real. Oh my god you're REAL!" She gasped, hand covering her mouth. "But I thought you said-"

"Long story," The Doctor assured her as Martha looked on, baffled. "Can we come in?" he hoped he didn't sound too eager. Jackie raised an eyebrow.

"She doesn't live here anymore," she told The Doctor gently. "Moved out, shortly after the thing in Norway." The Doctor slumped noticeably, and Martha felt a wave of familiar jealousy wash over her. Who was 'she'?

"Oh." The Doctor said morosely. "Where does she live now?"

"Not too far actually," Jackie mused. "She decided to stay in London – wanted to stay close to Torchwood – she's pretty much the head of the thing now, right after Pete. She…She's done a brilliant job. Saved the world a few times you know," she finished the word there, but the sentence was left hanging, and he knew what she had held back saying.

_Without you. _

"Of course she did. Rose Tyler, Defender of the Earth." The Doctor mused, and didn't notice Martha tense up beside him. Rose. He'd come here for Rose – the girl who cast a huge shadow. Martha knew her jealousy for the girl was misplaced – having never met her, but she couldn't help it. It was obvious The Doctor was head over heels for her, and she wanted it to be _her. _

"She stops by here after work, though." Jackie offered, something in her expression softening. "Some come in, I s'pose, and meet Tony." She turned to Martha, fixing the woman with a steely look. "Who's your friend?"

"Martha Jones!" The Doctor said cheerfully, bouncing inside the house. "Travelling companion. Who's Tony, again? Toooooony? Hello?"

"He's two months old you nonce." Jackie sighed, rolling her eyes. "Didn't take you long to replace our Rose then, did it?" she asked flatly, and The Doctor tensed.

"I could never replace Rose." He said quietly, turning to Jackie. "But I was tired, Jackie. Tired of being alone. I needed a friend – Rose was…is, very special to me. No-one could ever replace her."

Martha looked down at her feet, feeling something inside of her break. She always knew she was never a contender to this Rose girl. No matter how hard she tried. She moved past Jackie into the house, pushing back her emotions and lifting her head with a smile.

"It's true – the amount of times he's mentioned her to me," Martha joked lightly. "No way anyone could ever replace her – I haven't even met her yet, and I know that much."

Mollified, Jackie nodded her head and shut the door. "Alright then." She decided. "I'll go and get Tony – make yourself comfy in the lounge, and you can tell me why and how you got back here."

"Brilliant," The Doctor said brightly, moving into the lounge and sitting down on a couch. Realistically, all he wanted to do was find Rose again and cling to her, resolving to never let her go again. He could run off to Torchwood – but despite it being under new management, he wasn't even sure he wanted to be there. For now, at least, he would wait. Martha sat opposite him, avoiding his eyes, and The Doctor blinked.

Shaking his head, he leaned back into his seat and considered Rose, his pink and yellow human. That smile – oh he'd missed that smile. It made him giddy to think that soon he'd be seeing it again. When he had her in his arms again – oh right where she belonged, he'd find a way to get back to their own universe. Torchwood was resourceful, that much was true. If there were holes appearing in the fabric of the universes, then it was most likely Torchwood had a device that could allow them to travel through. He couldn't leave Martha stranded here, after all. If Rose wanted to come with them, which he desperately hoped she did, he would bring her with him. The TARDIS would love to have her home.

Smiling slightly, The Doctor leaned back and waited for Jackie to return.


	3. Chapter 3

Walking in fast, deliberate strides, Rose couldn't contain the excitement and thrill of adventure that ran through her entire being. All that was missing really was a familiar hand to hold, but she pushed that thought back into the recesses of her mind where it belonged. This was as good as she was going to get on Earth, so she'd take it. Checking her watch, she followed the co-ordinates to a simple side street. Nothing out of the ordinary visible, but the scanners were going crazy, and Rose let out a yelp as sparks flew from it, one landing on her hand, causing her to shake it off with a grimace.

"Bloody hell, that's strong time energy," she muttered, her eyes wide.

"_Everything okay, Rose?"_ Mickey asked over the earpiece.

"Everything's fine," Rose assured him, picking up the readings. "But this energy is really strong; it's making the scanners go crazy."

"_Any snail trail_?" Mickey asked, and Rose let her lips curve into a half smile as she moved the scanner around before perking slightly.

"Yeah!" she said, enthusiastically. "I'll follow it – see where it leads."

Ignoring Mickey's repeated warning to be careful, Rose trained the scanners on the residual energy that led away from the side-street, and began to follow. She noticed it got weaker the further she moved away, just like Mickey said it would, but she hoped she'd find at least something, lest this whole trip be pointless. The trail led to up to the main road before dying out, and Rose let out a noise of frustration, feeling the familiar numbness beginning to creep back over her again.

She opened her mouth to report to Mickey when loud screaming caught her attention. Spinning, Rose stuffed the scanner into her holster and felt the numbness break away to adrenaline. Someone was in trouble. Without a second thought, Rose immediately began to run towards the source of the trouble, and skidding around the corner, she saw it.

"They just appeared out of thin air!" A woman was saying hysterically, clutching onto her young daughter, trying to pull her back from the huge alien creatures. They seemed to be a type of reptilian race, stood on two legs, extremely tall, larger than any human Rose had seen. Their scales ranged from dark green to a musty blue, and they had long, forked tongues that consistently flicked in and out of their mouths. Pulling out her scanner, Rose aimed it at the aliens, not recognizing the race, but the scans told her everything she needed to know.

"Ablox." She said quietly, and the leader's eyes snapped to her, recognizing its own name. "Mickey, I'm switchin' off the communications to get the translator," she said hurriedly, hand reaching up to her ear to fiddle with the device.

"_No, Rose wai-"_

Rose cut him off before he could finish, talking a slow, wary stop forward.

"Identify yourself." The tallest Ablox demanded, observing her with cold amber eyes. Ever since the breach between universes had closed up, Rose hadn't been able to understand any language like she had been able to before. As such, Torchwood's translators usually did the job just fine. The voice of the Ablox before her had a sort of hissing quality but it was still understandable.

"Director Rose Marion Tyler of Torchwood industries," Rose said flatly. She hated using her full title, but with aliens, they needed to know straight away that she held some power at least. The leader studied her for a moment. "You are the Ablox from Sector fifty-four in the Omega Quadrant. Why are you on Earth?"

"We are searching for a new home," The head Ablox replied, and Rose furrowed her eyebrows slightly.

"What happened to your old one? I mean, from our records, Abloxium was thrivin'." She said slowly, trying to understand what could have happened to this culture.

"The darkness." Was the response of the Ablox. "It covered the planet, destroyed everything in its path. Stars went out, disappeared from the skies. We had no choice. We will settle here and repopulate."

"Now, jus' hang on a sec," Rose said clenching her fists slightly. "This is a protected planet – ya can't just come and claim this planet as ya own!"

"We will take it by force if necessary." The Ablox hissed, and Rose felt her eyes narrow.

"Oh no you won't." She said quietly. "Not accordin' to Shadow Proclamation Convention fifteen." She flexed her fingers slightly. "This planet's under the protection of the Shadow Proclamation, so you better watch it."

"That is unimportant," The Ablox said dismissively. "We need a home, and we choose Earth."

Rose felt frustration wash over her suddenly. "You can't! There are innocent people on this planet! We can help ya find somewhere new if you need it, but you can't take over our planet – We won't let you walk over us. It'll end up in a fight, and I don't want any blood to be shed over this. No more fightin'."

"Witness, Rose Tyler of Torchwood." The Ablox said coldly. "You will be the first to sacrifice your life energy to the greater empire." He raised an arm, and Rose tensed, noticing the laser weapon strapped to his wrist.

"Oh no you don't," Rose breathed, waiting for the right moment. As the Ablox fired, Rose dived to the left, landing hard on the road as a hole was blasted in the hole where she had been stood, some smoke rising from it. Almost immediately, the people who had been watching tentatively began to scream and run for cover, and the Ablox began the hunt. Pushing herself onto her feet, Rose turned, and began to run, the head Ablox fast in pursuit. Pressing at the device in her ear, Rose let out a yelp as a blast narrowly avoided her head. "MICKEY!"

"_Rose – what's happening?" _Mickey demanded immediately.

"Uh- Hostile takeover. Ablox – somethin' about the darkness takin' over their planet. Five of 'em." Rose said, somewhat breathless. Despite the fear that pounded in her chest, and the worry for the people of the planet, Rose couldn't stop a small grin forming on her face. This was what she lived for. She loved the running.

"_Sending backup,"_ Mickey said immediately_. "Initiating protocol four – getting the people safe."_

"Good!" Rose panted, ducking another blast and with some reluctance, she pulled out a small gun from her other holster attached to her other leg. Skidding to a stop, Rose turned, cocked the gun and aimed it at the alien, who continued to run at her. Rose didn't flinch. She had to wait until the last moment – she had to give him the chance to stop.

The Ablox didn't stop, and Rose's eyes hardened. "I didn't want to do this." She said simply, and fired.

A burst of fire left the gun and the small capsule slammed hard into the Ablox with great force – enough to knock it completely off of its feet. It wasn't a fatal bullet – Rose wouldn't kill. She refused. That wasn't who she was. It was an extreme stunning bullet, but she still wanted to avoid using it all costs. Sighing, Rose tucked the gun back into her holster and walked towards The Ablox, who stared up at her with half-lidded eyes.

"Who…are…you?" he demanded, trying to keep his eyes open.

"Didn't ya hear me mate?" Rose asked; her voice deadly calm. "Rose Tyler, that's me. Defender of the Earth."

She didn't realise she hadn't switched her translator back on.

* * *

"Rose just adores him, she's the perfect big sister," Jackie said in a fond voice, watching as Martha carefully cradled Tony in her arms.

"I can imagine," The Doctor mused, starting to get agitated. He just wanted to see her again.

"She was plannin' to tell him all about you, you know." Jackie said absently. "About the man who took her to see the universe."

The Doctor started slightly, and he felt something warm fill him up. It was nice to know that Rose hadn't forgotten – that she wanted to remember, enough to want to tell her younger brother about him. It touched him, more than he cared to admit.

Jackie glanced up when she heard the phone ring and frowned slightly, standing up to get it.

"Hello?" she asked, and frowned. "Pete? What's going on? No – I've got guests over – you'll never guess- What do you MEAN you'll be late?" she demanded, narrowing her eyes. "No, you listen to me Pete Tyler," she warned. "How many times have you come home late this week? I'm not having it."

"Jackie Tyler – Scary woman." The Doctor said to Martha in an undertone. The medical student managed a small smile, and continued to play with Tony.

"Whaddya mean, alien invasion!?" Jackie practically screeched, and The Doctor cringed before perking up slightly, watching the woman intently. "Is Rose okay? She better be!" Jackie sighed slightly. "Okay. Stay safe."

By the time she had hung up, The Doctor was by her side immediately.

"What happened?" he demanded, worry for Rose stirring in his gut.

"Some aliens tried a hostile takeover or somethin' – Torchwood's dealing with it now, but Rose was in the middle of it." Jackie replied, looking at him intently. "Great Peter Street."

"Martha, come on!" The Doctor said immediately, running past Jackie and out of the house. Martha stood, carefully handing Tony back to his mother.

"Sorry," she apologized with a small smile. "Nice meeting you!" she called out, before taking off running after The Doctor.

* * *

"We can't take 'em prisoner, and we're not killin' 'em!" Rose snapped, glaring at the man in front of her, arms folded. "I'm not having it! They're living creatures – the last of their kind, killing them off is GENOCIDE."

She was furious, to put it lightly. Torchwood would be perfectly able to handle this on their own. They'd make arrangements – settle this peacefully, but then the guns just had to get involved. She was doing all of this work on The Doctor's behalf – in his name. She wasn't going to let some stupid apes like this – Rose paused. Since when did she start calling people stupid apes? Oh she missed The Doctor too much.

"They tried to harm innocent civilians, ma'am." The colonel said stiffly. "This is beyond you now."

"Oh don't even start with that." Rose said dangerously, stepping forward. "They were scared; their whole planet had just been wiped out. They didn't know what else to do! I bet, if ya just gave them all a chance we could convince them to find somewhere else, but no, not if you go in all trigger happy like a moron!" Her voice had risen dangerously, and Pete, who had been watching nearby looked wary.

"Stand. Down." The Colonel said, his voice a snarl, and for a moment, a sort of golden hue flashed in Rose's eyes, and when she spoke, her voice was a low growl.

"No." she said simply, hands clenched into fists. "Listen to me, and listen good, colonel. You kill 'em, you're a murderer – there's a chance for peace here colonel – a chance for Earth to start to move up in the universe – we're getting' more and more noticeable every day, and going around shootin' and being trigger happy is just making it even worse. Soon, worse things will come like, god knows, warrior races – and we'll be no match! You just think that wipin' off an alien race will make Earth look powerful, but it won't. It makes us look like monsters."

Satisfied that she had laid into him enough, Rose turned and began to walk away, trying to calm her breathing. As she did so, The Colonel narrowed his eyes and nodded as his troops, who aimed their large weapon at the five disarmed Ablox. He gave a signal, and Rose spun around, her eyes widening in horror as she saw the aliens go up in flame, disintegrating almost immediately.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" She screamed, running at the Colonel, her hand lashing out to slap him hard across the face. "YOU MURDERER!"

Pete grabbed her around the waist and began to drag her back as Rose tried to lash out at him. "THEY WERE DEFENCELESS AND YA KILLED EM! YOU COWARD! COMPLETE COWARD!"

Rubbing his cheek, The Colonel turned to his troops, looking grim. "We're done here."


	4. Chapter 4

Arriving onto the scene, The Doctor looked around warily, eyebrows furrowed somewhat. Something didn't feel right. There were an awful lot of soldiers around – he didn't like that. Too many guns. It didn't help that the air tasted wrong. Almost like death. The Doctor's gaze hardened, and he looked around before spotting someone he was very familiar with.

"Mickey the idiot!" He cried out, almost joyfully, as he ran towards the man, who was pushing a few boxes back into a van. Mickey spun around, shock on his face, and his eyes widened even more when he saw him stood there.

"Doctor?" He said, complete disbelief in his tone. "But how – I thought…"

"Long story involving some stone angels that weren't actually stone and transported us across dimensions but that can wait for now, ello!" The Doctor grinned, pulling him in for a hug. Mickey hugged him back after a moment and grinned slightly.

"This is great! Rose'll be… she'll be ecstatic, to be honest." Mickey admitted. "A part of her died, that day, and it never really came back." He frowned slightly, and looked off somewhere, where Pete had dragged the still screaming Rose.

The Doctor winced slightly, the thought of any part of Rose dying tended to bring out that reaction in him. "Well, Mickey, this is Martha Jones – Martha, Mickey Smith."

Mickey glanced at Martha, and immediately held out his hand, smiling. "Nice to meet ya," he said, looking at her in obvious interest. Martha's lips curved up into a smile, flattered, and she shook his hand.

"You too," She said honestly, as The Doctor looked around, his earlier feeling of unease returning.

"Mickey, what happened here?" he asked, turning back to look at the technician, and was even more uneasy when he saw the flash of anger that crossed his face.

"They keep sayin' it was an invasion, but it wasn't. Five Ablox, that's all it was. Rose said their planet was wiped out by something they called the darkness. They needed somewhere to repopulate. Rose went out to look for some residual time energy that the sensors picked up-"

"That was us," The Doctor agreed. "Well, kind of – more like it was what the angels left behind in the process of transporting us here."

Mickey nodded, understanding somewhat. "Well, we were in contact over the radio, when she cut me off to use her translator. After a while, she was back and she was saying they were attacking, and she was running. I sent out some back up – we only really use stun guns, and only when we really need to," he added. "Rose is pretty much in charge and she hates guns."

"Good girl," The Doctor said with a small smile.

"She stunned the head one, and after a while, we rounded up the rest and disarmed them. Rose was planning on peacefully negotiating with them – she said they were just scared. We were going to help them, but then the guns showed up." He scowled over at the armed officers. "Rose got into a big fight with the Colonel. He wanted to just kill them and be done with it – but Rose said she wasn't going to let any genocide happen – she went off on this rant, talking about how Earth is getting more and more noticeable, and soon, warrior races will show up, and we'll be defenceless. "

"And what did the Colonel say to that?" The Doctor asked, his voice dangerous. He already knew the answer.

"As soon as Rose turned her back he ordered them to fire. Rose went crazy. Slapped him, and I think she would've torn out his throat if she could have," Mickey admitted, lips pressed together in a firm line.

"What, they just killed them? Defenceless aliens, stunned, defenceless aliens?" Martha asked, her mouth falling open slightly.

"Of course they did." The Doctor said in a low voice, and he was shaking slightly. "Humans! They just can't resist! Anything to feel more powerful than another race, just slaughter them without giving it a second thought! Needlessly killing!"

"I know, boss." Mickey said simply. "We're not like that, though. Torchwood – since Rose became Director beside Pete, it's all about peaceful negotiations with aliens now. We have weapons, but we've not used any except the stun guns."

The Doctor's anger subsided slightly and he nodded, somewhat stiffly.

"Good man," he said simply, and looked around. "Where did Rose go?"

"Pete took her back to Torchwood," Mickey replied. "Give me a hand loading these boxes up and I'll give you a lift."

"Atta boy Mickey!" The Doctor said brightly, lifting up two boxes to push them into the van. He was so close to seeing Rose again. It couldn't be long now.

* * *

"What he did was murder, and there's nothin' justifiable about it!" Rose seethed, hands gripped onto her coffee mug so tight her knuckles were turning white.

"I know," Pete said tiredly, running his hand over his face. "But they're a higher level of authority than us, Rose. It was wrong, and you're right, it was cowardly, but we can't do anything about it now."

Rose shook her head, shoulders drooping slightly. She had a duty, to do things in The Doctor's name. She wondered how disappointed he'd be in her right now, and the spark of life that had filled her earlier dimmed out completely, leaving way for the numbness to seep in.

"I think we should both head back. Take the rest of the day off, Rose." Pete said quietly.

"No." Rose said, and Pete was alarmed to hear the hollowness. He hadn't heard that voice since the days after The Doctor said goodbye to her. "I've got work to do."

"No, you're going home to take a rest. Fill in your paperwork tomorrow." Pete said firmly, looking grim. "And phone your mother – she's worried."

"Mum's always worried," Rose muttered, but releasing the coffee cup from her death grip, she stood, swallowing back the lump in her throat. "I'll see ya later dad." She said quietly, but before she could leave, he pulled her in for a hug. Rose closed her eyes and leaned into it, letting out a shaky breath. After a moment, she pulled back and managed a smile.

Leaving the office quickly, the first thing she did was go to her own and pick up the box of paperwork that lay waiting for her. Pete could tell her to go home, but she wasn't going to stop working. She needed a distraction from thinking about him, and what had just happened. Paperwork was mind-numbing and often made her want to sleep. Perfect.

Picking up the box, Rose pulled out her keys and headed down into the car park, unlocking the boot of her car to put the box down. Before she did however, she heard a voice call her name.

"Rose!" Mickey was yelling as he got out of his van, raising a hand to wave at her. Rose shifted the box in her arms to give a half-hearted wave back, and raised an eyebrow when the other door of his truck opened and a young woman got out. A half smirk appeared on her face, but then another man got out after her.

Rose dropped the box.

At first she could only stare, something powerful seizing her heart and gripping it, and her hands slowly covered her mouth. Impossible. It couldn't be. She was dreaming – this was a terrible, wonderful, cruel dream. A small noise, something akin to a sob broke from her mouth, and she suddenly became aware she was shaking.

The man – The Doctor, HER Doctor looked up at her, and even from across the parking lot, she saw his mouth form a single word. _Rose._

Rose suddenly became aware that she was running, sprinting towards him as fast as she could, and he was running towards her in turn, and the closer she got, the more she could see that wonderful, brilliant smile on his face. A sob breaking through her lips, Rose continued to run. If this was a dream, she would take it gladly.

They slammed into each other, crushing their bodies together and clinging onto one another as if afraid the other would disappear at any second. Rose wound her arms around his neck and buried her face into his neck, inhaling the scent of him, the scent she'd missed – and she could feel the hole inside of her chest starting to patch itself up. It was so wrong – when she awoke she'd be empty again, but this was so perfect, she couldn't bring herself to wake up. The Doctor's arms were wrapped firmly around her, holding her to him, and she let out a shaky laugh. It felt so real.

"Rose, my Rose," The Doctor whispered, his voice thick with emotion.

Rose pulled her head away to stare up into his face, studying every feature she saw and committing it to her memory. She never wanted to forget. Her hand came up to his cheek and gently, she ran her thumb over the skin, and his hand covered hers, causing her to let out a shaky breath.

"Hello," he murmured, reminiscent of the first time he had said it to her in this body. Rose let out a shaky laugh, her lips curving up into a wide, true smile that lit up her entire face.

"Hello," she replied, pressing the tip of her tongue to the corner of her mouth, The Doctor cupped her face in his hands carefully.

"Rose Tyler, how I've missed that smile." He said, gently pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Rose let out a happy hum, her arms winding around his waist in another hug.

The Doctor looked down at her, feeling his hearts practically sing at the sight of her. His pink and yellow human. He'd missed her so much, there weren't enough words in any language to describe it – not even his own.

They stayed like that for a while, just holding each other. Across the parking lot, Mickey smiled, nodding his head slightly. Martha had been watching them, but had turned away after a while, feeling as though she were intruding on a private moment. The smile on the Doctor's face was brilliant – glowing.

"They just fit together, don't they?" Mickey said absently, and Martha looked up at him, slowly nodding. She had to admit – it was obvious The Doctor loved Rose - and from the look on her face, she obviously did to. She couldn't even bring herself to feel jealous about it.

"Yeah, they do." She said simply.

"Rose and I used to date – before she met The Doctor." Mickey was saying. "And for a while, when he took on that face, I travelled with them – and then I saw it first-hand. No matter how Rose felt about me, The Doctor would always come first to her. They just had this…bond. It was impossible to break, even if you tried. That's why I left, first time we came here. I needed an out, I think." Mickey leaned against the truck with a small smile. "Glad I did. Rose and I broke up, but now she's more like a sister to me. Everything that happened, it just made me into a stronger person."

Martha looked at him intently for a few moments before she turned to look at The Doctor and Rose again, who were walking hand in hand towards them.

"Makes sense," She said quietly, slipping her hands into her pockets. "Even when she wasn't there – it was impossible to come between them. It was always – 'If Rose were here', 'I wish Rose could have seen this' and so on. It was easy for a girl to feel…a bit jealous."

Mickey nodded understandingly. "I get that, but just like I found it impossible to hate The Doctor, you won't be able to hate Rose – she's just…You'll understand why he took a shine to her – it's impossible not to."

Martha didn't reply to that, but managed a smile when The Doctor and Rose approached.

"Martha! This is Rose!" The Doctor said, saying the name like he was speaking of a precious artefact. "Rose – this is Martha, my- well friend and travelling companion!"

Rose smiled, holding out her free hand to Martha, who took it after a moment's hesitation. There was no hostility in the blonde's eyes, just happiness.

"Thank you – for being there for him," Rose said simply. "He needs someone. Plus – if he took you along you must be something special!"

"I only take the best!" The Doctor declared, shooting Rose a goofy smile, who grinned back at him, squeezing his hand. He squeezed it in return, and looked around. "Is there anywhere we can talk? Now that the gang's all here-" he brightened. "A gang! I've never had a gang before, that's new, new and good, I like the sound of that."

"Doctor," Rose grinned, nudging him playfully, and he blinked.

"Oh, yes, right, well, there's a lot to talk about. Catching up, explaining how we got here and how we're going to get back." He continued, and Rose nodded.

"We could go back to my flat?" she offered, shrugging. In her mind, this was still a dream, but dream or not, she was willing to go along with it. She grinned impishly. "If you're not afraid of carpets and windows too much."

The Doctor shuddered. "Oh Rose, really?"

Rose laughed, rolling her eyes, and to The Doctor, it was the most beautiful sound he'd ever heard.

"Nah," she grinned. "I redecorated the place so it looked a little less domestic – I think you'll like it," she said cheerfully. "Mind givin' us a lift, Mick?"

"Not a problem," Mickey replied with a shrug, getting in the driver's seat. Martha moved to the other side, but before The Doctor could, Rose stopped him and looked at him intently.

"Doctor – be honest." She said quietly. Dream or not, she needed to know. "…Is this all just a dream?"

The Doctor's expression softened, and he shook his head, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"No, Rose." He murmured, his forehead pressing lightly against hers. "It's not a dream, it's real – so very real."

Rose let out a shaky breath, before her face lit up into a huge smile, tears pricking into her eyes, though she pushed them back. He was real, it wasn't a dream. She'd spent so many nights dreaming about him, not that he was really back, it still felt like a dream.

"Come on, Rose Tyler," The Doctor said, delight in his tone. "We've got a lot to catch up on."

"Allons-y!" Rose giggled, beginning to pull him towards the other side of the truck, and The Doctor beamed.

"Exactly!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N - This is more of a filler chapter so have more Rose and Ten fluff before the work gets started to get home! Also thanks for all the support so far! **

Through the drive to Rose's flat, she and the Doctor didn't release hands for a single moment. The atmosphere was light and filled with a happy air, as the Doctor was telling a story about the planet Denwin, and his listeners were all laughing at his expense.

"No- I'm telling you, it was huge!" the Doctor protested as Rose leaned her head back, laughing so hard her stomach hurt.

"It really wasn't," Martha offered, lips curved up into a small grin.

"Martha!" the Doctor cried.

"You haven't changed a bit, boss." Mickey laughed as he parked up the truck outside of a good looking block of flats.

"He really hasn't," Rose giggled, looking over at Martha. "He did the exact same thing on Craltho."

Martha's smile faded somewhat, but she shook her head, forcing a smirk onto her face.

"Doesn't surprise me," She said simply, getting out of the truck after them.

"Oh, now this is nice." The Doctor mused, looking up at the flats, head tilted to one side critically. "Still overly domestic, though." He pouted, and Rose rolled her eyes in a good-natured fashion, beginning to pull him towards the steps.

"Calm down," she laughed, linking her fingers between his, causing a thrill of happiness to run through both of them. "I decorated the inside, not the outside."

Smiling, she pulled out her keys and unlocked her door, biting her lip as she pulled him inside, and the Doctor stopped short, a small smile crossing his face before it broke into a full-fledged grin. He looked at Rose, still grinning, and she smiled back at him widely.

"It felt more like home this way," she explained, gesturing to the coral painted room. The lighting was almost identical to that on the TARDIS, and there was a table in the centre, circular and adorned with objects to make it look a little bit like the console. Black couches lay spread around the table similar to the captain's chair, and the blinds were arranged so you could hardly tell there were windows in the room.

"It's brilliant!" The Doctor said in delight, moving further into the room to look around. "It's nothing on the old girl, of course, but for a domestic situation, very, very good! Molto bene!"

Rose shook her head and smiled, sitting down on one of the couches and tucking her feet up, similar to the way she would sit on the captain's chair on the TARDIS when she would watch the Doctor work. The Doctor sat next to her immediately, not wanting to be away from her for too long, and after looking around the room in interest, Martha sat on the opposite couch, joined by Mickey.

"So, how'd you get here?" Rose asked, looking confused. "You said, on the beach –" they both winced at that particular memory. "-that there was no way to get back to me without the walls between our universes fracturing."

Martha started slightly. She had always just assumed that Rose had left the daughter by choice and left him broken-hearted. But the truth was, she had been trapped here? Something similar to guilt stirred in her chest, and she looked down at her feet, not wanting the expression to show on her face.

"Martha and I were exploring this high frequency of time energy that my timey wimey detector-" Rose rolled her eyes with a fond smile. "-picked up, and it led us to an abandoned house. As it so happens the energy actually was being emitted by some creatures known as the Weeping angels."

"Weeping angels?" Rose asked, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. "What are weeping angels?"

"Humanoid aliens, to be exact," The Doctor mused slightly. "Look just like angel statues, you'll see them covering their faces, giving them the expression of crying. They're stuck in a quantum lock, you see. They can't move when people look at them, they literally turn to stone, which is the ultimate defence mechanism, but blink or look away, and that's all they need to grab you. Typically, they send their victims back in time, feeding on the residual time energy left behind. They let you live out the rest of your life in the past. The lonely assassins, they're called, because they can't look at each other, or others." Leaning back slightly, he looked troubled. "There must have been some kind of weakness in the barriers between universes, because instead of sending us back in time, they sent us to a completely different dimension, and not just any dimension – this particular one."

"And the TARDIS is still stuck in our dimension," Martha added. "So we don't really have a way of getting back."

"Yeah you do," Rose said, brightening slightly, a grin on her face. "Torchwood have been workin' on this... dimension canon," she explained quickly. "It's not quite ready for testing yet, but, the theory is if the walls of the universe ever weaken, then the canon will be able to transport you through dimensions. There's no guarantee of the time period you'll end up in, but we're tryin' to calibrate it to get us to the right time period in the right universe. It's not ready just yet for testing, but it will be."

"Dimension canon? Why would you even make one of those?" The Doctor frowned.

Rose looked away, biting her bottom lip slightly. "It was sort of a…just in case. If the walls started to break down, we'd find out and we could use it to safely propel me between dimensions to find you again. It was my idea." She admitted, glancing back at him to see him grinning at her. She blushed, shooting him a mock glare. "Shut up."

"Well, take me to see this dimension canon tomorrow annnd I could probably tweak it around a bit, make sure it really is safe – I don't need any more holes in the universe, to be honest, but if it's the best way to get back, then that'll be a good idea, as long as it's safe." He said simply. Usually, the safe card wouldn't bother him, but he had both Rose and Martha to worry about now – given that Rose still wanted to come. She had a life here now, what if…

His worry must have shown on his face, because Rose squeezed his hand lightly. "All three of us?" She asked quietly, her voice firm.

"If, you still want to come along, then, of course you know I'd love to have you back and- and the TARDIS would be overjoyed." The Doctor said, babbling slightly in his worry. His worry was misplaced however, because Rose broke into a brilliant smile, one he loved, and nodded.

"Yeah, of course you numpty!" she grinned. "I didn't spend all that time helpin' the scientists develop the thing to not use it if I could."

The Doctor beamed slightly and nodded, unable to express how much that lifted his spirits. Turning to Mickey and Martha, he tilted his head. "So Mickey the idiot! How have you been?" he asked, and Mickey grinned.

"Pretty good, boss." He shrugged. "Head technicians officer for Torchwood now, come a long way, eh?"

"Any idiot can handle a computer," The Doctor grinned, a teasing lilt to his voice, and Mickey rolled his eyes, but he was grinning at the shared joke. He turned to Rose. "What about you, Miss Tyler?" he asked, voice softer, and Rose shrugged her shoulders.

"Every day kinda felt like a battle," she admitted. "Especially at the beginning, and after you said goodbye. It was like I had to force myself to function, but Pete got me a job at Torchwood. I figured I could do some good, and it helped. I always felt…numb," she shivered slightly. "But sometimes dealing with aliens and running, it helped me feel again, even if it was for a while. Eventually they named me director, which was so weird," she laughed, and The Doctor felt his hearts break at the words she was saying. He'd gone on to assume Rose would live a wonderful life, surrounded by her family, and eventually forget him. She'd been numb, for a year or so. He was always the cause of ruining his companions.

"I also found out just how frustratin' humans could be." Rose frowned slightly, remembering the incident from earlier. "The Colonel, he hates aliens more than anything else in the world." She grimaced. "He never listens to reason."

The Doctor's gaze hardened. "He was the one who ordered the genocide, correct?" he asked flatly, and Rose bit her lip slightly.

"You heard about that, then?" she asked quietly, slumping. She'd failed him, that much she knew. As if sensing her thoughts, The Doctor shook his head.

"I'm not mad at you, Rose. You did exactly what I would have done – they were scared and ultimately defenceless. They wanted sanctuary, and didn't know how to correctly seek it. You did all that you could." He pressed his lips together in a firm line, eyes blazing. "I'd like to have a word with this colonel, though."

Rose relaxed slightly, and grasped his hand with both of hers, running her thumb over the back of his knuckles in a reassuring manner. He looked down at their hands and relaxed somewhat, letting out a breath.

"So, how'd you and Martha meet?" she asked bracingly, trying to steer the conversation away from her life in Pete's world.

A small smile on his face, The Doctor began to regale his tale, with Martha correcting him on what actually happened now and again.

* * *

"Is everything okay?" Rose asked Martha as the medical student came out of Rose's room, wearing a pair of Rose's pyjamas. Mickey and The Doctor had decided to run back to Torchwood because The Doctor was getting restless and wanted to find something to tinker with, so after a lot of whining, Mickey had given in and decided to take him to pick up a few things. Rose didn't mind too much, though she didn't like being away from him now she had only just got him back, but it meant she had time to talk to Martha one on one. She could sense that Martha was treading lightly around her, and if she was going to re-join the Doctor, and by extension, Martha back in the TARDIS, she wanted to clear up the air now.

"Yeah," Martha said slowly, sitting down again, hugging her knees to her chest and avoiding meeting Rose's eyes, causing the blonde to sigh.

"Martha, listen. I'm not blind, and I'm not stupid, I know that ya have feelin's for the Doctor – it's written all over your face." She said simply, though not unkindly. "And by extension that makes you jealous because he's always touchin' me and we're so close, yeah? I'm gonan be honest – I don't blame you. It's almost impossible to not feel that way for him." She said slowly. "And I'd be lying if I said I was a little bit jealous of you, too."

"What? Me?" Martha said in genuine surprise, looking up at Rose in disbelief. "Why?"

"You got to travel with The Doctor – what I've been missin' for a year and a month. You had the excitement, the adventure, but mostly, you had the Doctor." Rose said, shrugging her shoulders. "But then it hit me – The Doctor needs companions. He needs someone to hold his hand and get through it with him." Rose looked down at her feet, swallowing a lump in her throat. "I always worried, after I got stuck here, that he'd always be alone, but he found you – and you saved his life, and I feel stupid for even letting myself feel jealous because thank you, Martha. You saved him."

Martha took a deep breath and nodded, feeling her unease beginning to fade. It was really hard to dislike Rose Tyler, and Martha was starting to feel awful for all the times she'd been petty and thought bad things about her.

"It's just, I always felt like I was in your shadow," Martha admitted after a moment. "He'd always say things like: 'I wish Rose were here,' 'Rose would have known what to do' and I guess, it just made me feel like second best."

To her surprise, Rose didn't immediately jump on the defensive, instead, she scowled.

"What an idiot." She muttered, narrowing her eyes. "Martha, I am so sorry you had to deal with that. The Doctor, despite being a 'superior being' with all his Time Lord knowledge is seriously, a bit thick." Seeing Martha's look of surprise, Rose let out a laugh. "Yeah, he's severely oblivious. I understand that he missed me – I missed him, but he was making you feel awful, and I'm sorry for that. I don't know anything about you, but honestly, Martha Jones, you must be brilliant, and you shouldn't feel like you're sittin' in any shadow I might have cast."

Any sort of resentment or bad thought Martha had still been feeling for Rose vanished in an instant. She could tell that she was sincere in what she was saying, and Martha suddenly felt a lot more confident in herself, and smiled at Rose. She could understand suddenly, why the Doctor was so stuck on this girl. Martha had never seen so much honesty and compassion in another person before. She wasn't perfect – like Rose said she herself had been jealous, but she didn't let it rule her head.

Feeling much better, Martha shot Rose a warm smile and Rose smiled back widely.

"Want some coco?" Rose then asked, rubbing her hands. "Pretty cold tonight."

"I'd love some," Martha agreed, and Rose stood, grinning.

"Great! Care to join me so you can regale some of The Doctor's mishaps to me? I need more teasing material."

Smirking, Martha also stood and took Rose's offered arm. "As long as you return the favour with stories of your own," she said lightly.

"Martha, I'd be _delighted."_

* * *

The Doctor wasn't sure what to expect when he opened the door of Rose's apartment. He'd been wary to leave them alone – knowing that when Rose and Sarah Jane had first met they hadn't bonded right away and that had made him wary to leave this time. What he didn't expect, however, was to see Rose and Martha talking animatedly on the sofa together, used mugs lying on the table.

Hearing the door open, the girls turned and immediately lapsed into laughter, and the Doctor frowned. This was the Sarah-Jane situation all over again. Laughing at his expense.

"What?" he demanded, shutting the door behind him, and dropping his bag on the other couch. The girls just laughed harder, and then Martha shook her head once she'd calmed down, a small grin on her face.

"Okay, I might head to sleep – you two need to catch up and it's been a long day," she decided, looking at Rose meaningfully, causing the blonde to shake her head and rub her face in embarrassment.

"Night then Martha," The Doctor said baffled, as Rose repeated his words, and Martha disappeared into the spare bedroom. Rose patted the seat beside her, and the Doctor immediately sat down beside her, arms wrapping around her in a hug, which she happily returned. She exhaled slightly, resting her head into the crook of his neck and smiled.

"Good choice with Martha," she murmured, content to lie there. "I like her. She seems brilliant."

"She is," The Doctor agreed, his head resting against hers, just revelling in the fact he would hold her again. There was something they both knew they were avoiding, a very important issue, one that often haunted his dreams.

"_I love you."_

"_Quite right too. And I suppose, if it's my last chance to say it. Rose Tyler-"_

One day, she'd expect him to finish that sentence, and he'd tell her exactly how he felt. He wouldn't leave it to the last moment again. Closing his eyes, the Doctor contented himself in holding Rose close to him.

Rose eventually closed her eyes too, her head moving to rest against his chest where she could feel the steady thump of his hearts. It was to this that she fell asleep, untroubled for the first time in many months, by nightmares.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N – Sorry about the wait. Ugh. University has started and it's been hectic around here. Anyway. Here's the next chapter! **

"So, this dimension canon," The Doctor said, as Rose, Martha and he headed into the Torchwood building the next morning. "How exactly does it work? You said it was a way to send you safely through the walls of the universe? But how can you be certain of that?"

Rose ran her key-card through the machine by the elevator and stepped inside when access was granted, shrugging her shoulders at the question.

"I'm not really sure myself, that's all left up to the scientists. I work alongside them, but I don't understand everything about it," She said, pressing the third floor button. "It should be ready for testing soon, but they won't let me test it until the power levels are up to sixty-five percent."

"So you're kinda like... a guinea pig?" Martha said slowly, and The Doctor looked irked by that, even more so when Rose smiled at Martha.

"Yep. Only willing." She replied, and The Doctor shook his head, grinding his teeth together.

"Rose, are you insane? Willingly going in to test a machine that could honestly rip you apart atom by atom if even one thing goes wrong?" he shook his head adamantly. "I don't think so."

"Yeah, well until you showed up again I was willing to do everythin' in my power to get back to you," Rose replied shortly, jaw set in determination. "If I died along the way, then my reassurance on that was that you'd never have to find out about it anyway."

For a moment, The Doctor and Rose stared at each other, both equally as frustrated, before Rose eventually sighed and led the way out of the elevator.

"Look, Doctor. I was in a really bad way after Norway." She said quietly. "I was numb, inside and out. I honestly didn't know what to do with myself. Working for Torchwood didn't even help for a while. The running did, now and again, it was like a spark of life in me. But it would always fade. Then I got to talking to this boy from the science department, Ollie." Martha noticed how the Doctor's jaw flexed when Rose mentioned this 'Ollie' and she shook her head. Honestly. "He told me he was interested in dimensional travel, and the belief that it was possible to travel through dimensions. I told him everything I knew, and he was really excited by it, saying that with the right force of momentum, you could theoretically push something through the walls of the universes without puncturing it. As long as you took certain issues into account and you could ensure the safety of everyone and the universes in general." She moved to a large steel door, typed in a code and ran her card key through the slot. "Using my position as Director I ran the idea through to dad, and it took some time to convince him, but he allowed the project through in the end. It… made me feel alive, Doctor. Doing this, it made me feel like I finally had a purpose again. Every second I worked on this thing the numbness went away and parts of me began to heal."

The Doctor's expression had softened considerably at her words, and he sighed, running a hand down his face slightly.

"Rose, I'm so-" he began, but Rose cut him off.

"No. Don't." she said simply. "Don't apologize. You couldn't do anythin' to stop it from happening. It just happened and I had to live on. I just needed to find something to help me. This project was my crutch." She smiled, a little thinly, and pushed open the door into the large room that waited beyond.

"Ollie?" she called out, and after a moment, a young scientist quickly approached, smiling warmly at Rose. With his spiky black hair and blue eyes, he was just like the type of pretty boy Rose always used to be attracted to, and he felt a surge of jealousy run through him. Oh that was so unbearably human!

"Rose, you came in! Your dad said you were taking a few days off," Ollie was saying, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Did he? Well, he might have suggested it, but then again, Ollie, do I ever follow orders?" Rose grinned at him, and he grinned back.

"I guess not. Who are your friends?" he asked, looking behind her curiously, and Rose gestured for them to come forwards. "This is Martha Jones and The Doctor." She said, once again feeling a sort of thrill of happiness run through her at being able to introduce him to people she had met here.

"THE Doctor?" Ollie said, obviously star struck for a moment. Ollie had been one of the people she felt close to in this universe, so she had eventually told him stories of The Doctor, and she knew that the young man was awe-struck at being able to meet him. Grinning, Rose nodded.

"Yep!" she declared, excitement sparking in her eyes as Ollie turned to her in delight.

"But I thought…" he began, and Rose nodded.

"He was," she said simply.

"But he's…"

"Here, I know. Which is good for us, yeah?"

"Rose, that's brilliant!" Ollie said immediately, moving forward to the Doctor quickly. "Hello, I'm Oliver Denwise. I've heard so much about you, Doctor." He offered his hand, and unable to resist someone acknowledging him, (and from the fact he was obviously excited, The Doctor could tell that Rose had been telling stories, and it made him feel a little smug) he shook the offered hand, releasing it after a moment so Ollie could shake Martha's hand too.

"Hello Oliver," The Doctor said cheerily. "So, where's this Dimension Canon, then?"

"You still want to work on it?" Ollie asked after a moment, confusion etched on his brow. "But I thought, the TARDIS…"

"Didn't come in the TARDIS unfortunately," The Doctor said, distracted by looking around. "Sent here without a capsule, nasty, tricky business, completely not fun, and we have no way back except for this machine of yours. Figured I could lend a hand of my own."

"Oh, that'd be great!" Ollie said enthusiastically. "Just follow me." He turned and quickly began to walk away.

"A little eager, isn't he?" Martha grinned, looking over at Rose, who let out a soft laugh.

"He's as enthusiastic about this project as I am. Just like this is my crutch, it's his baby." She explained, moving to follow him. "He's probably been one of the best friends I have here, save Mickey and Jake."

"Jake?" The Doctor inquired, and then brightened. "Oh, how's he doing then?"

"Pretty good," Rose smiled. "A bit restless that I woke let him use any guns, but he's adjustin'," she grinned, tongue pressing against her front teeth in an almost mischievous manner, and the Doctor got the impression that teasing him was something Rose loved to do to Jake, and he smiled slightly at the thought.

"Here we are," Ollie said brightly, and the Doctor glanced up to look at the large machine. There were scientists working all around it, but they moved to let the group pass, and the Doctor immediately kneeled and began to scan the sleek contraption using his sonic, his expression becoming more interested when he looked at the readings.

"…I think we can work with this." He said after a moment, and Rose's face lit up.

"Really! It could work?" Rose asked, excitement colouring her tone, and the Doctor nodded, pulling his brainy specs out of his jacket pocket and putting them on.

"Potentially. It's got a LOT of work that needs to be done, though." He mused. "Judging by the rate it's at now, it wouldn't have been actually ready for another year and a half at least. But, you didn't have me then."

"So, Mr Spock," Rose teased lightly. "With you here, how long should it take?"

"Weeeeell, I'd need to perform my own tests, see just how fragile the universe's walls are first, but, if everything goes well, I'd say… maybe a month? A month and a half?"

"Well it's better than a year and a half," Martha conceded, though she sighed at the thought of being stuck for a month.

"A month and a half is nothing compared to waiting a year," Rose agreed, moving forward to bend beside the Doctor. "What do you need?" she was distracted however, by a figure walking in the room, clipboard in hand.

"Miss Tyler?" Adeola said, some amusement in her voice. "I had a feeling you'd come in to work today, despite what Mr Tyler said."

Rose looked up and grinned, shrugging her shoulders. "You know me well. What's up?"

"Well, It's about the Ablox situation," Adeola explained, before she faltered. "..Martha?"

Martha was staring at Adeola like she had seen a ghost, and Rose did a double take as she looked between them.

"I thought Martha looked familiar, but that is almost uncanny." She finally said, and the Doctor murmured in her ear.

"Cousins."

"A-Adeola." Martha said, shock laced onto her face. "But- but how…you died…"

"I died?!" Adeola demanded, and there were tears in her eyes. "You-you're the one that's dead!"

"Parallel universes," The Doctor offered up. "You two are from different worlds. In this universe, Martha died where Adeola lived. In the other universe, where we're from, Adeola died where Martha lived."

"Parallel universes," Adeola breathed. "Right, okay, I just…this is bizzare."

"You're telling me," Martha whispered, and suddenly, the two women were hugging and half laughing and half sobbing.

The Doctor smiled slightly, and turned to Rose.

"Let's get to work, shall we?"

* * *

"I think that went rather well," The Doctor declared cheerfully as he and Rose made their way down the street, as Martha had decided to stay and catch up with Adeola. It may not have been her Adeola, but she still wanted to know how she'd been. Parallel universes were funny that way.

Rose laughed, rolling her eyes at his words as she clung to his hand, a smirk on her lips. "Oh really? So you blowing up that section of the machine was completely planned, yeah?"

"Completely." The Doctor affirmed seriously, trying to keep his lips from twitching into a sheepish smile. Okay so things hadn't gone perfectly to plan, but he'd definitely reduced the time span on getting the canon to work, and his scans had come back positive. By all intents and purposes, it should be safe.

"You are so full of it!" Rose scoffed, swinging their hands between them lightly, and even that simple gesture lifted her spirits. After a moment of companionable silence between them, Rose paused and sniffed. "I smell chips," she declared, and The Doctor grinned.

"Can still sniff 'em out like a bloodhound then," he joked, and Rose huffed, hitting him hard on the arm.

"Oi, you!" she warned, and the Doctor let out a low whine.

"Don't hit me Rose, I've had enough of that from your mother! If there was one thing I didn't miss, it was the famous Tyler slap!" he pouted, and Rose laughed loudly, her eyebrows raising.

"So you ran into mum and she slapped you, did she?" she snickered. "Makes sense, poor baby," she teased, leaning up to press a playful kiss against his cheek, and her lips left a fire trailing on his skin. "How about I buy us chips to make up for it, since you're most definitely gonna be a tightwad and not have any money on ya."

"Rose, I have psychic paper and a sonic screwdriver," The Doctor said indignantly. "I don't need money, but you know what? Chips sound brilliant. Just like our first date." He grinned goofily at her, and she grinned back at him, beginning to pull him towards the fish and chips shop that was just around the corner.

"Good, but next time, you're buying, you hear?" she told him firmly, and he nodded.

"Yes Director Tyler," he snickered, and she groaned slightly.

"Oh shut up you git," she mumbled, poking her tongue out at him. "Keep it up and I'll just buy chips for me and not you."

"I'll just steal yours," the Doctor challenged, smirking.

"Yeah, and you'll get another slap." Rose shot at him, raising an eyebrow, and he groaned, pouting.

"You win this time, Rose Tyler!" he declared, and she grinned brilliantly.

"I always do!"


End file.
